Electronic commerce is an increasingly popular way of selling products and services, referred to herein collectively as “items,” to consumers. The popularity of electronic commerce has prompted more vendors to make their products and services available over electronic networks, such as the Internet. Both vendors and computer users benefit from electronic commerce in a variety of ways. For example, users do not have to travel to a number of vendor locales to purchase a given item. Rather, a user can now purchase a desired item from the convenience of his or her home. Further, users can quickly compare a wide variety of similar items and prices from a number of vendors in order to make an informed choice in their purchases. Vendors are benefited, in part, because they can reach a much larger group of customers than those who reside in their geographic vicinity.
One beneficial feature that may be offered in an electronic commerce environment is the gift registry or wish list. A wish list may be maintained for a given user or customer, and may include a list of items that may be purchased as gifts for the user by others (or by the user himself at a later time). Many people make their wish lists public or accessible to friends, so that when a gift-giving occasion arises, such as a baby shower, wedding, birthday, Christmas, anniversary, graduation, retirement, etc., others are knowledgeable of items that are desired as gift for a given wish list owner.